Content Search

Syria and U.N. set up tents for Iraqi refugees

Abu Kamal, Syria (dpa) - Syrian
workers on Saturday were installing tents for Iraqi refugees fleeing the
U.S.-led war on their country.

However, after three days of U.S. bombing,
Iraqis still had not arrived.

"We are setting up 1,000 tents for
now, each taking up to eight people and we will increase the number as
needed when the refugees start arriving'', said Khalid al-Dakhil, a Syrian
engineer. He was supervising the work in Abu Kamal, 585 kilometres northeast
of Damascus.

Al-Dakhil expressed doubt that many refugees
would come adding, "The Iraqis do not seem to be to be letting anyone
leave the country.''

The camp, which faces the western Iraqi
border town of al-Qaim, is one of the three being set up by the government
and the U.N. refugee agency, which together could handle thousands of refugees.

Engineers were working to bring electricity
and water to the camp. "A medical team including Syrian doctors and
nurses will be on hand to provide medical services to the refugees'', said
Riyadh al-Mardoud, head of the services directorate in Abu Kamal.

About 60 workers struggled against strong
winds, sand and dust Saturday to set up the white tents at Abu Kamal on
a stretch of land only 50 metres from the Iraqi border.

A team from the U.N. World Food Programme
arrived to assess the services needed.

"We are here to get a clearer idea
about the work being done'', said Pierre Saillez from Belgium, logistic
coordinator for the agency.

Large numbers of Iraqis have been coming
to Syria in cars and buses for the past month. More than half a million
Iraqi travellers are thought to be in Syria currently.

Many have rented homes or were staying
with friends until the end of war.

Since the start of the bombing campaign
Thursday, traffic has been light at the border crossings at Abu Kamal and
Tanef, some 300 kilometres northeast of Damascus.

An Iraqi driver who arrived at Abu Kamal
Saturday, Makki Qubaysi, 30, denied Iraqi authorities were banning people
from leaving the country, saying Iraqis were choosing to stay.

"Iraqis are not afraid. Nobody wants
to leave his country, his home'', Qubaysi said, adding he would go back
to his home in al-Qaim later Saturday.

Qubaysi and Syrian drivers living in
Abu Kamal reported hearing explosions and seeing allied warplanes firing
missiles at al-Qaim Friday night. They said a communications centre in
the town had been hit causing several explosions.